Riding In Cars With Boys
by TheRightWrongs
Summary: At this point Stella has figured out that she wasn't going to get home anytime soon and she was strangely content just riding shot gun with Ray leading the way.
1. Take a Picture

**AN: I've had this idea come to me and I just couldn't resist the temptation to start yet another fic. Yeah I've got a problem but oh well. **

He spies her taking refuge under the shade of a large tree. She sits with her arms draped over her knees and her head leaning back against the bark of the tree trunk. Her eyes are closed and she is alone. Ray Beech doesn't know why he does it but he pulls his red Camaro up to the seemingly snoozing brunette.

"Yo Lemonade Mouth!" He shouts out of his passenger side window. The girl opens one eye to take a peek at who would interrupt her sidewalk catnap. She groans before setting herself upright on the curb.

"What do you want Beech?" She sighs.

"Want a ride Yamada?" He asks casually. She stares at him oddly for a second wondering if he said what she thought he had said.

"Depends, are you actually going to give me a ride or are you just going to drive off if I say yes?" She answers after a moment of hesitation.

"That hurts; you'd actually think I'd do that to you?" Ray asks her sarcastically.

"Actually yes I would." She answers back with no tone of sarcasm. Ray considers her answer before leaning over to open the passenger side door for her. She eyes him suspiciously for a second before gathering her bag and taking the seat offered to her.

He waits for her to buckle herself in before signaling to reenter traffic. The two sit in silence as the stereo fills their void. Stella can hear the guitar riff of Mudslide Crush's "And the Crowd Goes" playing softly through the speakers in the car. She laughs to herself thinking of course he'd be listening to his own band's song. Ray doesn't seem notice her laughing to herself as he keeps his eyes on the road in front of him.

"So Ray…"

"So Stella" He mimicked. She gives him a slight stink eye before continuing with her thought.

"Why are you giving me a ride?" She asks frankly. He glances over at her quickly before turning his attention back to the road.

"Am I not allowed to?" He answers with a question keeping his attention on the road in front of him. She mulls over his response and when she can't come up with a witty answer turns her head to stare out the passenger window.

She relishes the breeze from the open window on such a hot day. Her day at the beach with friends cut short due to the scorching heat. The weather man's forecast for the day told her that temps would be well above 110 degrees but she had planned on getting to the beach well before the large families with their screeching children, hell she made sure to leave her own house well before her mother could even suggest a family trip.

Ray turns down an unfamiliar road but Stella decides that he's been in this city a lot longer than she has and trusts that he knows where he's going. Soon though she's completely confused as to where she is.

"Where are you going?" She asks as he pulls onto a dead end road. "Are you going to kill me and dispose of my body here or something"? She half jokes.

"What?" He answers laughing at her while pulling into the driveway of a small blue house. "No, this is where I live. My mom asked me to get her some things so I'm dropping them off." He adds pointing to a few canvas shopping bags in the back seat that Stella just noticed.

"Oh…want some help?" She asks trying to recover from her over reaction.

"Are you sure? It might kill you." He mocked her grabbing 3 bags in each hand and walking away before she could retaliate. She scoffs but grabs the remaining 3 bags and follows him to a side door.

"You know I was joking right?" She asks him as he searches for the correct key for the door in front of them.

"Whatever you say Yamada," He says as he turns the key in the door knob. He stops suddenly before throwing the door open. "How do you feel about dogs?"

"I love dogs, why?" She asks curiously but getting the answer before he could give one. Two dogs immediately shoot towards the two as the door swung open. Ray uses the bags he's carrying to coral the dogs away from the door and keeps them from escaping.

"You might want to be careful, they don't usually like strangers." He says as he shuts the door keeping the dogs safely behind it. He puts the groceries away diligently and Stella can swear that he forgot she was in the same room with him. She busies herself with the two dogs at her feet; 2 pugs, one black and the other white with brown spots. She learns from their tags that the white and brown one is the male named Rory and is a full year older than the female Macy. She's watching them as they both vie for her attention. Rory is attempting to climb Stella's legs as she's bent down to pet him and Macy is licking her hands vigorously. "Okay I'm done. We should go now."

"Your dogs are cute," She says to break the silence as they head back to the car.

"Uh yeah thanks," Ray responds distractedly as he turned his key in the ignition and prepared to back out. They make it another 5 minutes in the car in utter silence before Stella speaks up.

"You think we can roll up these windows and turn on the AC or something? I'm dying in here."

"AC is busted." He answers her shortly while making a left hand turn onto the main road of their hometown. Stella blinks slowly before turning her head back to the window for a face full of hot air. The weather seems to have gotten hotter and more humid during their ten minute stay in the Beech residence. After 5 minutes of hot air to the face Stella turns to see Ray removing his shirt at a red light.

"What are you doing?" She asks before thinking.

"It's hot as hell and this shirt isn't helping me at the moment." He answers brandishing his white tank top at her before tossing it into the back seat. She's staring at his chest in shock for a moment. Ray's athletic body isn't hard to look at. His tan and toned chest compliment the definition in his abdomen and the slight bulge of muscles in his arms. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Excuse me?" She scoffs. She looks at his face to see Ray's usual mocking sneer in place. She hates that sneer. Two can play this game she thinks before removing her own tank top to reveal a bright green bikini top and her own toned and tan body. Ray's eyes bug out slightly and he immediately refocuses his attention back on the road. She chuckles to herself as she watches Ray's eyes flitting back and forth between her and the road every so often. "Take a picture, it'll last longer" She mimics him back to himself.

And then he lets himself laugh, and his laugh is so genuine and contagious that Stella can't help herself that she smiles and lets out a giggle of her own. The laughter eventually subsides and the pair is left in silence again. At this point Stella has figured out that she wasn't going to get home anytime soon and she was strangely content just riding shot gun with Ray leading the way.

**AN: This was originally supposed to be a one shot but I figured I'd stop here and let you guys yell at me to finish the second half *insert evil laughter* (or not that's cool too.)**


	2. Elephants and Horses

**AN: Wow I did not expect to get that kind of a response. Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews and I apologize that I couldn't post this immediately.**

Stella focuses her attention on the melody coming from the speakers. She recognizes it and has to fight the urge to sing along. It her song or rather her band's song "Determinate" Stella glances over at Ray waiting for the shit to hit the fan once he places Wen's piano playing and Olivia's vocals in his mind. She's waiting to see his features take on his trademark angry sneer that comes with anything Lemonade Mouth. It doesn't come though.

"What are you staring at now?" He asks after rolling through a stop sign. She doesn't want to say it but the elephant in the 'room' is too big to ignore. She turns to face the front again before making her decision to change the radio station. The tip of her index finger touches the tuner before being pulled away. "I have one rule and one rule only. No one touches the radio. Ever." He tells her seriously before letting go.

"Sorry" she mumbles before working up the nerve to continue. "I just figured you didn't like that song anyway." She finishes more confidently.

"Well it's not your worst song," He answers her with a hint of the classic Ray Beech smirk. She scoffs at him indignantly and now she's at a loss for words. Her speechlessness is only temporary though.

"Oh yeah then what's our worst song then?" She asks with just a hint of genuine curiosity

"Here We Go." He answers her bluntly. She looks offended as she scoffs once more. She looks from Ray to the windshield a few times while collecting her thoughts.

"And why do you think that's our worst song?" She asks him as calmly as she can.

"It's annoying," He begins and pauses to see Stella's reaction. Her face is reddening in anger and her eyes show that she is clearly offended by Ray's comments. "Let me explain before you try to bite my head off. It's too preachy. I mean come on 'Be heard, be strong, be proud.'"

"What do you mean 'too preachy'?" she asks him using air quotes.

"The song just relies heavily on the message and isn't too subtle about it. It's not a bad song really. The rapping is amateur at best—"

"AMATEUR?" She yells out before bursting into laughter. "You're one to talk." He glares at her for a moment before turning into a convenience store parking lot.

"Whatever Yamada." He says trying to keep a straight face but Stella's laughter is infectious and before he can stop himself he's smiling. "Did you want something?" He asks while stepping out of the driver's seat. Stella nodded and followed him in.

The door rings signaling the lone employee behind the counter of their entrance. The two teens head straight for the drink coolers located in the back of the small store. Ray grabs two water bottles and waits for Stella to make her own selection. She can see from the corner of her eye that he's waiting for her so she quickly makes a decision and grabs a can of the generic half lemonade half iced tea drink that the store sells under its label. Ray motions for her to follow him into one of the aisles.

"Take your pick." He instructs her gesturing to the shelves of snack foods. "My treat"

"Ray you don't have to, I've got my own money. I can pay for myself." She reiterates holding the bag of pretzels she picked up to her chest defensively.

"I didn't say you couldn't pay for yourself, I'm just trying to be nice."

"Why are you being nice?" She asks him seriously.

"Am I not allowed to be nice?" He answers her evasively. She gives him an exasperated look before walking away to pay for her stuff. Soon he's behind her waiting in line and she can feel his eyes boring into the back of her head. She walks away from the register and out the door. The door rings again signaling her exit. Ray quickly pays for his stuff and mutters a thank you to the cashier before following Stella's path out the door. She's waiting by his car with determined features on her face.

"Why are you being nice?" she asks again blocking his car door.

"Why do you care so much? What's that saying 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'" She looks at him weirdly for a moment before shaking off his response.

"Because for the past year that I lived here you went out of your way to make my life a living hell, and failing at that may I say? But today it's as if we've entered an episode of the Twilight Zone. You started treating me like a human being; like all of a sudden you turned into this whole different person. You're a new Ray Beech. So I'll ask you again. Why are you being so nice to me?" She pleads

"You want the truth?" He asks her after a long moment of silence. She nods yes vigorously. "I don't know why."

"You don't know why?" She questions him disbelievingly. He hears the challenge in her voice and steps closer to her as if planning on walking through her to get into his car. She tenses up at his closeness. His face is mere inches from her own and she has to crane her next to look directly in his eyes. Ray uses his arms to trap her in between him and the driver's side door. She doesn't back down though.

"Think harder." She breathes out. Ray's piercing blue eyes are looking into hers as if searching for the answer there. He steps forward once more as if she wasn't really there. Stella is suddenly aware of their height difference. He lowers his head so that his forehead is on hers and their noses touch. She can feel his lips hovering over her own and for a moment she thinks that he's going to close that distance as well. She thinks that she'll let him and it scares her. She blinks under his intense gaze.

"I just don't know," he whispers before sliding his hand behind her and gently pulling her body towards his and off of the car door handle. She suddenly remembers that she's not wearing a shirt and his hand leaves a tingling awareness of that fact. He can hear her breath hitch at his prolonged touch. She quickly gets herself out of the way allowing Ray to get into his car. She stands there for a minute not daring to look at his face, to look into his eyes which were now burned in her mind and memory. She wordlessly runs to the other side of the car and takes her place in the passenger seat again.

**AN: Sorry for the awkward cut off point but I had to stop somewhere and this was legit the least awkward point. Please review? (And possibly yell because I liked that haha)**


	3. Sam & Mikaela

**AN: Yay quicker update this time. Here is the next and FINAL part. Hope you enjoy :]**

He starts the car and they are off again. The radio is off and the only noise that can be heard is the humming engine and the swishing of the cars passing by outside. Stella is staring out her window doing her best to sort through the last few hours of her life until all of a sudden a huge grin makes its way onto her face. She's laughing now despite herself.

"What's so funny?" Ray asks genuinely curious. She almost doesn't want to answer because it's such a random thought she's sure he won't see why it's funny but she decides to do her best to explain.

"You know that movie Transformers?"

"Yeah that movie is sick."

"Well you know the part where Bumblebee is fighting that Decipticon Barricade and Sam and Mikaela first find out what Bumblebee is?" He nods affirmatively as she continues. "So then Bumblebee transforms back into the Camaro and Sam asks her to get in the car."

"_Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?"_ Ray finishes her thought quoting the movie verbatim.

"Exactly," She smiles impressed. "I was just thinking about how different my day would have been had I not gotten into your car. This just made me think of that. I was laughing because it's weird that you happen to have the same car in the movie too so I don't know I just thought it was funny."

"So are you comparing us to Sam and Mikaela?"

"Well not exactly but the similarities were kind of cool I guess."

"I'm totally Mikaela then."

"What? Why do you say that?"

"Because we're both hot that's why."

"Oh God can you be any more arrogant?" She laughs.

"Probably" He smiles at her.

"Oh and by the way does that mean you're a girl?" She jokes. He blinks and stares at her for a second before surprising her with his response of sticking out his tongue. "What are you ten?" she laughs.

"Yes I'm a ten year old girl. My name is Rayna nice to meet you." Stella can't help but laugh. She laughs so loud and so hard that she ends up snorting which in turn causes her and Ray to laugh just as hard at her. Eventually the laughter subsides into short giggles which turn into silence. The silence is short lived as Stella's cell phone interrupts.

"Hi mom," Ray can hear a female voice on the other end. The woman sounded irritated and wouldn't let Stella respond. "I'm sorry I'm on my way." Stella says before ending the call.

"What happened?"

"I was supposed to be home half an hour ago for dinner. My parents are pissed."

"I'll take you home now."

"Wasn't that the point in the first place?" She asks giving him a small smile. He returns the smile, turns up the radio and sets his course for the Yamada residence. Fifteen minutes later they are pulling into the gravel driveway and are met by Stella's family outside. Her mom doesn't look too happy to see her daughter getting out of a car with a shirtless male driver and her only wearing a bikini top and boy shorts.

"Finally!" her twin brothers shout and run up to the car where Stella is muttering a thank you to Ray and making sure she had all of her belongings. "Can we eat now?" one of them asks as they both drag her away from the car towards the backyard where her dad seemed to have set up the barbeque.

"Yes. Stella would your friend like to join us?" Her mom asks directing the question at Ray himself.

"That's alright Mrs. Yamada. I don't want to impose."

"Nonsense; Stella's dad just grilled up a bunch of burgers and hotdogs. You are more than welcome to join us." The older woman smiles warmly at him. He knows now that he can't refuse. He turns off the ignition and puts on his shirt before getting out of the vehicle.

He follows the Yamada family to their back yard. The grill is smoking slightly as Mr. Yamada is removing the food and placing them on platters. He carries them to the picnic table where the twins are already sitting and waiting impatiently for their food.

"You can sit anywhere…I'm sorry I don't know your name."

"My name is Ray Beech. I go to school with Stella." He says introducing himself. He takes a seat on the side with the twins. Stella soon reappears having changed out of her bathing suit. She hesitates when she sees Ray sitting with her two brothers.

"Hey, you're still here?" She questions as she takes a seat across from him.

"Uh yeah your mom invited me to stay for dinner. Hope you don't mind." Even after discovering a whole new side to Ray she's still a little surprised to see a genuinely nice Ray. She likes it though.

"I don't mind at all," She answers hoping that the burning feeling in her cheeks was just from the minor sunburn she attained earlier that day.

"So Stella how was the beach today?" Her dad asks bringing over two platters of burgers to the table and setting the smaller one down in front of Stella.

"It was such a bust. It was so freakishly hot this morning, the water felt like it was a hundred degrees and it was totally packed. We ended up leaving after an hour." She explains while taking a veggie burger off her special plate. They all settle down as they dig in. The small talk begins as the platters start emptying. Stella's parents are in the middle of a discussion about the role of athletics in an academic setting when the twins decide to hijack the conversation.

"Are you Stella's boyfriend?" The one closest to Ray asks loudly.

"Yeah are you and Stella dating?" the other one asks louder. Stella and Ray as if rehearsed look at each other with wide eyes clearly uncomfortable with the sudden change of topic. That's when they both notice that underneath the picnic table their legs are touching.

"Boys!" Stella's parents scold the twins half heartedly as they are also curious of the extent of the relationship between the two teens. There's a long awkward pause before Ray clears his throat and answers the question.

"Actually I did have a crush on her when I first met her." He answers with a weird smirk. Stella can't seem to determine if his words are fact or fiction.

"EWWW!"

"Hey!" Stella says slightly offended at her brothers' outburst.

"Boys, you may be too young to realize this but your sister is a very beautiful girl but you'll see when you get older." Ray tells them as if he's letting them in on some kind of secret. Now Stella knows that it's not her sunburn that is heating up her face.

"Alrighty then who's ready for movie night. Ray you are welcome to stay and as our guest you can pick out the movie. How does that sound?" Mr. Yamada states as he begins clearing the dishes.

"Sure," He answers getting up to help the older man.

"Now leave this Ray, Stella can show you to our movie collection and we'll be right in." Mrs. Yamada said taking Stella's veggie burger platter from Ray's hands and nudging him towards Stella.

"Okay thanks." He says smirking upon noticing the nervous expression on Stella's face.

"Follow me I guess." She says stammering a bit. She leads him through the sliding doors and through the kitchen towards the living room. She points to a large cabinet next to the television stand and informs him that the DVD's are kept in it. He quietly scans the titles in front of him before finding just the right one. He turns around with a sly smile to display his choice to her and she lets out a laugh.

"Transformers? Really Ray?" She continues laughing. Her family soon enters the living room. Ray hands his selection to her dad so he can set it up. The Yamada's take their regular positions for movie night. Her parents sit on the love seat together while her brothers are sprawled out on the couch leaving room for no one else. Ray turns to see Stella lying on the carpeted floor; her elbows propped up to her head in her hands. Ray follows her example and sits on the floor as well leaning up against the couch. The movie begins immediately after Mr. Yamada skips through the previews. Twenty minutes in the boys on the couch begin snoring. Stella's parents get up and each take a boy and bring them upstairs.

"Want us to pause the movie and wait for you?" Stella asks getting up to grab the remote.

"No honey that's alright. You and Ray can continue without us. Your father and I will probably just go watch some TV in our room for the night." Stella's mom says to the two teens.

"Goodnight Stella." Her dad says kissing her on the head, "It was nice meeting you Ray." He says extending his free hand towards him.

"Goodnight sir and thank you again for dinner." Ray says as he shakes his hand. "Goodnight Mrs. Yamada. Thank you for dinner as well."

Her parents leave up the stairs carrying the two sleeping boys. Stella sits back down on the floor. This time leaning against the couch much like Ray had been doing before. He sits down next to her and waits for her to press play. She's making herself comfortable first. She uncrosses her legs from her first sitting position and brings her knees up only to let one of them fall back down to the floor and the other to cross itself over it. She finds her comfortable spot and presses play tossing the remote down in front of her legs. She leans her head back using the couch cushion as a pillow for her head.

Halfway through the movie her head falls to Ray's shoulder. He eyes her for a moment to check if she's asleep. She isn't. He feels a smile emerge and turns his attention back to the television to watch as the power fails in the hangar where Megatron is kept. He's seen this movie a million times so he's not surprised when he feels his eyelids become heavy. He takes one last look at Stella who has already nodded off soon after using his shoulder as a pillow. She is now curled into his lap having slowly migrated south in her sleep.

He shuts his eyes for a few minutes hoping it would give him a small boost of energy to be able to drive home with. He passes out promptly for the next hour and a half. Ray is startled awake by his cell phone which he forgot he had on maximum volume. It's his mom demanding to know why he missed curfew. He glances at the digital read out on the television and sees that it's close to midnight; almost an hour past curfew.

"Mom I'm sorry I was with a friend and I fell asleep watching a movie at her house. I'm on my way home now." He rushes out before hanging up. He tries unsuccessfully to move Stella without waking her up. He's got her in his arms placing her cautiously on the couch before she awakens completely.

"Hey…" She yawns out awkwardly at having woken up on Ray Beech's lap. The past 12 hours rush back and a slight blush creeps onto her cheeks. The darkness obscures it from Ray's tired baby blue eyes.

"Hey. I didn't mean to wake you. I've got to go though, it's past my curfew." He explains stretching.

"Let me walk you out," Stella says sleepily as she yawns once more and leads him to the front door. They're standing on her porch now and they don't know what to say. So they just stand there not daring to look at each other in the eye for more than three seconds at a time. Stella breaks the ice first.

"Ray I'm not going to ask you why anymore, I'm just going to say thank you."

"No problem Stella," Ray says looking up at her. Her eyes are on him and his on hers. Silence once again takes over. She's trying her best to tear herself away, to stop getting lost in his eyes, reminding herself that one day should change everything. It does though and she sees that split second change in his eyes as he closes the distance between them capturing her lips with his own. His lips linger for a moment on her lips unmoving. They look into each others' eyes once more before resuming. He lowers his head so that his forehead is on hers and their noses touch. She can still remember his doing the same thing earlier and she smiles to herself. He slowly walks away and she can feel her body cool down significantly where his hands had just vacated.

"_No matter what happens I'm really glad I got in that car with you."_

**AN: So it looks like I'm done here. Wow I can't believe how long this took me to write. I seriously need to pull the reins in on my imagination. I really appreciate the feedback everyone has given this. I never thought this would take off like it did. I want to thank everyone who reviewed/faved/alerted this and I will when it's not almost 5:30 A.M.**


End file.
